Tag: journaling

In my last post, I answered what I considered to be the Top 10 myths and questions regarding bullet journaling, as evidenced by the numerous posts on the topics across various social media groups. I did, however, leave out what is perhaps the biggest statement that we see several times a day, and that is: I want to start bullet journaling but I don’t have the time. On a similar note, it’s not uncommon to see someone post something like, I just don’t have the time to keep up with my bullet journaling!

Invariably, this all comes down to how we prioritize our time and what we expect from a bullet journal. So let’s begin with our expectations of a bullet journal. In it’s purest form, Ryder Carroll developed the system to be a time *saver*. Rapid logging and migration was never meant to take hours. Rather, it was meant to be exactly as it’s name implies: Rapid. Of course, as we all know, that system gained traction and speed and grew into something Ryder certainly never expected, which is a nearly cult-like movement in journaling. With it’s growth came change, and the system quickly evolved into artistic and instagrammable planning loosely based on rapid logging.

It seems, however, that this evolution is creating more stress for many, stress which the system was designed to alleviate. So when you find yourself overwhelmed and out of time for your bullet journal, try asking yourself why you’re really using it. Are you using it to be part of that movement? As an art journal? As social media fodder to promote your pages? Or are you using it as it was intended – to help you better manage and organize your time?

Hey everyone! I did something a little different this time and actually made a video. Bear with me, it’s the first I’ve ever done and I definitely know where I need to improve, but here’s the flip through of my August layout, as promised!

Lately I’ve been writing a lot about Bullet Journaling, in particular, my Bullet Journal, but this week, I wanted to shift gears a little and talk about some small lifestyle changes that can make a huge difference in your day-to-day quality of life. I was actually inspired to write about this by this BuzzFeed listicle. For some reason, it popped back into my “For You” feed even though it’s 4 years old, and I like to peruse this type of content to see if there are any small changes I can try to make in my daily routine to make life a bit easier. I then looked through a few more listicles and realized that, hey, I actually do most of the things suggested – and a few more of my own. So today, I want to share with you the things that I have found that not only make my life easier, but have given me an overall better quality of life too.

This is especially important for me as someone with Fibromyalgia. Part of keeping flare-ups and the associated depression at bay is maintaining, and doing, these 13 things to make life better for me. Hopefully, something in the following list will inspire and help you too!

Please note that if you suffer from serious mental illness or depression, nothing on this list will supplement or replace medication, therapy, and medical care! If you need help, please – reach out. If you’re suicidal, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

Last week, I shared my Traveler’s Notebook with you, and how I incorporate my Bullet Journal into that system. As promised, this week I’m going to share my weekly and daily spreads! Of course, I actually changed my weekly spread layout for this week, so I have two different layouts to share. That’s the beauty of this system though – when you get tired of one layout, or find that it no longer serves you, you can change it up the next day or the next week! So let’s dive right in, shall we?

Hey everyone! I mentioned in my my last post that I had moved my Bullet Journal to a Traveler’s Notebook (TN) system and promised I’d share more with you, so here it is. Let’s talk about the TN and Bullet Journal hybrid – a best of both worlds!

I have to admit, I was hesitant about this whole idea at first. It seemed that using a TN and the associated inserts with the Bullet Journal spat in the very face of the Bullet Journal concept which was to streamline and simplify your planning (I know, I know…hyperbole much? 😀 ) but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this could actually work without taking away from bullet journaling!

For one thing, for busy people, migrating “permanent” spreads into a new bullet journal is daunting. I was, well, am, no exception to that rule, and I realized that some of these spreads that I consider permanent or at least long-term (like my annual goals and bucket lists) might be better off in a TN insert. So, I bit the bullet (er…sorry…) and bought a TN from Elrohir Leather as a Yule gift to myself.

Like this:

I am, admittedly, late in sharing this, but I wanted to show you all my October Bullet Journal setup. I kept it fairly simple this month – no 30-Day Challenges this time around! I did, however, keep with my monthly collections and I hope you’ll enjoy seeing how I use my Bullet Journal!

Today is my one year Bullet Journal-iversary and I spent some time looking back through the last few Bullet Journals I’ve completed. Well, two. I’ve filled two in a year. I’m on my third now, and still madly in love with this system that, when I first learned about it on the Official Bullet Journal site, I dismissed out of hand immediately. In fact, I had been looking for some new form of planner because nothing that came pre-packaged was working for me. All of the Etsy printables and semi-custom planner inserts in the world did not satisfy what I needed, and since I had no intention of becoming a graphic designer and actually *gasp* making my own printables, I found myself straying from my planner more and more.

But at first blush, the Bullet Journal system invented by Ryder Carroll seemed too confusing, if I were to be honest. Let’s face it – the world of Bullet Journaling and it’s adherents speaks a language unto its own and if you aren’t already in the know, it can be confusing at first. A spread? A collection? A future log? Migrating…what?! I just couldn’t be arsed.

But here’s the thing – none of those things are necessary to start a Bullet Journal. And here’s another secret I’ll let you in on – all of those Pinterest Bullet Journal “Hack” boards you see? There’s no such thing. The Bullet Journal itself is the life hack. By it’s very nature, a Bullet Journal is as simple as they come – or as complex as you want it to be. There’s no “hacking” this to make it easier or quicker. It’s all what you want it to be. If you want simple, Bam! Easy day. Write the date, your tasks, appointments, and any other little notes you want to remember and you’re done. The only way to make that any easier is to hire someone to follow you around and do it for you. After all, all you need, literally, is any old notebook and pen. You don’t have to get the Bullet Journal Starter Pack.

Because I am a magpie, I didn’t settle for keeping my Bullet Journal simple. It is not, however, really artistic either. It’s somewhere in -between because the truth of the matter is that if it doesn’t interest me visually, I won’t keep up with it. And if I don’t challenge myself to try new spreads or collections or improve my handwriting or doodling, I may lose interest. The beautiful thing about the system is that I can change it up monthly, weekly, or even daily – and very often I do just that. I’m always trying new layouts for my monthly, weekly, and daily spreads. The photo up top is my most current weekly, and I think I may have hit on something that works for a while.

If it doesn’t, I’ll try something new. That’s why I love this. It’s not pre-canned. This month, I have a lot of collections going. I’m tracking habits, medical symptoms, sleep, creative writing prompts, my ever present gratitude log…but in August, I tracked almost nothing because I wasn’t home much and my routine, I knew, was going to be shot so why bother?

Nevertheless, the Bullet Journal is my one stop shop for tracking swaps, letters, and anything else I need or want to – on top of keeping my schedule organized. I’ll have more pictures later on in the Bullet Journal Spread page here on my site, but hopefully you get the gist for now. There’s no way to hack a Bullet Journal, folks. I said it above, and I’ll say it again – it is the hack.

How about you? Are you into this or do you prefer the pre-done structure of a more traditional planner? After all, at the end of the day, it’s all about what works for you.

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Meet the Magpie

Hi, I’m Phe – writer, artist, Bullet Journalist, cook, girlfriend, and mother. From mail art to letter writing to poetry to mixed media to cooking, journaling, and art journaling. Between all of this and working a full-time “regular” job, I hope to inspire you to not only learn how to manage that mythical “work-life balance” everyone keeps talking about, but to do so mindfully, and creatively to create the best, well-rounded and grounded you that you can be.